The Post’s Steve Serby chatted with the Mets’ new general manager about the future of the Amazin’s, his time in Oakland and much more.

For more of this Q&A, go to NYPOST.COM

Q: A Billy Martin anecdote from Oakland?

A: Billy thought he was the general manager as well as the manager of the Oakland A’s. So one day, it became my responsibility to inform him that he wasn’t the general manager, that he was the manager only. And he reacted to that (chuckle) organizational position by basically destroying his manager’s office in Oakland.

Q: What were your dealings with George Steinbrenner like?

A: George was a very gracious competitor. When we went into Yankee Stadium, he always made his box available to my family. He was a real gentleman and very hospitable in that regard and obviously very successful. And at the same time, it was fun to try and tweak George from time to time or the Yankees. And so I tried to do that when I had the opportunity — you know, The Little Franchise That Could versus the big Goliath. But all in all, a great deal of respect for what George Steinbrenner accomplished and him as a person.

Q: You were critical of Alex Rodriguez’s contract (10 years, $252 million) with Texas at the time. As you look back on it now, have your views changed at all?

A: Did everybody think I was wrong before (smile)? I think it was one of those situations where first of all, it was my job to be the voice of Major League Baseball on those issues, so to some extent I was only filling that responsibility at the winter meetings. In my view, there wasn’t any way to defend that contract. It represented a dangerous precedent, not only in terms of the amount of money it represented, but also the length of time.

Q: The qualities of the young Tony La Russa after the White Sox let him go that attracted you to him?

A: You start with his intellect. He had a law degree from Florida State. Secondly, he was always well prepared. He was just somebody that worked at it. He didn’t just show up at the ballpark and fill out a lineup. He thought about the game. . . . He worked with his coaches. And, because he was smart, because he worked hard, he was a good in-game manager. But also, he had an emotional quality that players not only respected but appreciated. He’s a Them-vs.-Us kinda guy, and sometimes that’s what you need.

Q: Does a New York baseball manager need to have certain qualities?

A: Based on my experience (at his introductory press conference), I’d say yes (smile). With 60 or so (media members) in that room, and maybe 20 to 30 on a day-by-day, game-by-game basis, I think one has to recognize that there are certain aspects to the job here that don’t exist elsewhere. . . . I think the intensity is there from the beginning. It’s not just the quantity of coverage. It’s also the quality of the coverage . . . the competitiveness of that coverage . . . the ability to respond to those dynamics.

Q: What gives you the feeling that your skin is thick enough for this?

A: It’s been thick enough in the past. I think it’ll be thick enough again. But that’s not to say that I’m immune to criticism. Everybody wants to be liked, but there are points in time where the most popular decision is not ultimately the best decision in my judgment or collective judgments that I have to execute. But I’ve been there (chuckle), and I expect to be there again.

Q: Your definition of a Sandy Alderson ballplayer?

A: Rickey Henderson. A guy with power, speed, tremendously selective at the plate and an excellent defender. And somebody that had a flair about him that made watching him play just a joy.

Q: GMs in other sports you admire?

A: Bill Polian with the Indianapolis Colts. I look at the Colts and the continuity that they have — part of it comes from the fact that they have Peyton Manning, who’s a constant there. But it just seems from an organizational standpoint they have the kind of continuity that has sustained their success, and I think he has a lot to do with that.

Q: Billy Beane?

A: Very smart guy with tremendous energy and passion for the game. And somebody who’s willing to think differently and take risks.

Q: Were you surprised (former A’s manager) Art Howe did not make it here?

A: Every leadership situation is different. Every team in every location is different. It’s not always that someone with success in one location or with a particular team is gonna be able to duplicate that success, and apparently he was not able to do that.

Q: What are your recollections of the ’62 Mets?

A: Marvelous Marv (smile) . . . Casey Stengel. I don’t have an extensive memory of the Mets, but I do remember their early years as being sort of hapless but lovable. And that’s probably an aspect of the franchise that has survived in a way — the lovability . . . the humanity of the franchise.

Q: The ’69 Mets?

A: I don’t remember the World Series, but I was in the Marine Corps in ’69 during the Series, and I remember being in the field and listening to the playoff games between the Mets and the Braves on our PRC 25s, which were the field radios that we had and we carried around on our back. We couldn’t get the radio broadcasts, but we could get the television broadcasts (chuckle). So we’d go out in the field (chuckle) and sit down under a tree or hide behind a rock and listen to the game on our PRC 25.

Q: The ’86 Mets?

A: It’s hard to forget Bill Buckner. But I remember the Red Sox won the first two games at Shea, and went to Boston, and I can remember going to a private dinner that included a number of Boston front-office officials. And we were all patting them on the back with their 2-0 lead, which seems insurmountable to the casual observer, and how cautious they were . . . and how cautious they had a right to be (chuckle).

Q: Your ’89 A’s?

A: The ’89 team had everything. . . . Tremendous group of characters, and not only great players but larger-than-life personalities. What I remember about that is how much fun it was to go to an opposing ballpark and, No. 1, kick their butt. . . . No. 2, listen to the fans who were all over us, and then walking out of the ballpark feeling as if we had just won the war. But also realizing the importance of the entertainment quotient — Dave Stewart, Dennis Eckersley. . . . Say what you want about Canseco, but these were larger-than-life personalities. That’s what the game can really be. It is entertainment, and there’s no reason that we should forget that.

Q: Rickey Henderson?

A: When I went to my 25th college reunion, one of the questions was, “What is your favorite hobby?” And I answered, “Trading Rickey Henderson (laugh).” I traded him to the Yankees, originally . . . reacquired him in ’89. Traded him again to Toronto, and then re-signed him somewhat later. That was the key to the 1989 team, that was really the difference between losing in ’88 and winning in ’89, I think was Rickey Henderson.

Q: Steroid Era regrets?

A: Almost anytime you look back on something that didn’t turn out as well as you would have liked, you look at what you might have done differently. But putting myself back in that situation, 1988, (steroids were) an emerging problem that we didn’t fully understand. . . . (We) didn’t really know in the sense that we do today. And with the few tools we had to deal with the problem, it’s unfortunate that a few players on our club were involved, as it turns out. And it’s unfortunate that baseball went through what it did in dealing with the problem.

Q: You suspected Jose Canseco?

A: I did suspect Canseco. But I never suspected McGwire. I know he was big, but we had a lot of big players on our team. His family was big.

Q: Who else did you suspect?

A: That was really it. At one point, we considered drug testing. We bought the kits. We identified a lab. But ultimately, because we knew it would probably be illegal under state law, and certainly a violation of the collective bargaining agreement, we backed off. So we were thinking about it. But it was an emerging problem that I don’t think any of us fully comprehended.

Q: Favorite movie?

A: I don’t know why, but either “Risky Business” or “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” (smile).

Q: Favorite actor?

A: Sean Connery because I loved the James Bond series.

Q: Boyhood idol?

A: Hank Aaron was my guy. I got to see him play in an exhibition game in Columbia, S.C., and reached into a cab, and got him to sign a ball.

Q: What year were you in Vietnam?

A: I went there as a Marine in ’71.

Q: When you came back, were you saddened, troubled, about the way the country viewed the war?

A: I was fairly apolitical at the time, and I certainly didn’t notice any animosity toward me immediately when I came back. I had an interesting experience though. My job when I came back (was as) was the CO of a platoon that had various elements. One of them was a group of people who buried people at Arlington Cemetery. Another group was a drill team, it’s the Marine Corps Silent Drill Team. . . . I had a couple of people that were doormen at the White House. We traveled all over the country at that time. So this was 1971, ’72. And we got tremendous reception in many places, and we got less than tremendous reception in other places. That was a reflection of the times, and it was a reflection of political reality in certain places.

Q: So the Vietnam experience in general you thought was a beneficial experience for you?

A: I was a gung-ho marine. I was an infantry lieutenant. It was an odd time in Vietnam because units were being pulled out, and personnel were being rotated quite a bit, so I had a lot of different jobs. But it was something I thought I’d prepared for, and I met a lot of great people there and elsewhere when I was in the Marine Corps.

Q: You being a gung-ho marine, did that have anything to do with your dad’s background?

A: Probably. My dad flew in World War II — he flew in Vietnam, but he flew in the tail end of Korea also. So I had been in a military family. Politically, I had thought of World War II and Korea as important and worthwhile initiatives by the United States. There wasn’t any reason for me to believe early on that Vietnam was any different from that. As I said, I was somewhat apolitical at the time. So, from that standpoint, when I came back, I was in the Marine Corps for another two years. . . . within the umbrella of that environment.

Q: The day you learned your wife Linda had breast cancer in 1984?

A: When your wife at age 37 is diagnosed with cancer, it’s a pretty disturbing, sort of a shattering revelation. But part of that is just because of the uncertainty that it introduces into your life and so forth. But we’ve been very fortunate, and she’s been healthy for 26 years. So it’s all turned out very well.

Q: She said that might have been the last time or only time she’s seen you cry.

A: I don’t know about that. . . . I can be emotional (chuckle).

Q: How did you cope with it at that time?

A: I coped with it through her. She was incredibly strong and resolved about it, addressing it and trying to overcome it, and so I really took strength from her.